Rail Budget 2014 may introduce bullet trains

An official said railway minister Sadanand Gowda is keen on the proposals aimed at fulfilling Modi's vision of constructing a "diamond quadrilateral".

NEW DELHI: The railway budget may bring some cheer to passengers who have been denied high-speed travel for decades despite promises in the past.

The railways are working on two proposals—introducing trains with speed of more than 300 kmph on dedicated corridors and running trains at speed of 130-150 kmph on the existing tracks.

An official said railway minister Sadanand Gowda is keen on the proposals aimed at fulfilling Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of constructing a "diamond quadrilateral" of high-speed trains and ensuring world-class facilities for passengers.

For bullet trains, the high-speed corridor from Mumbai to Pune and Ahmedabad to Mumbai is on top of the railways' priority list. It is expected to get a push as the government has hinted at allowing 100% FDI in high-speed train travel.

The other proposal is of using train-sets or electric multiple units similar to those used in Delhi Metro to increase the average speed on existing tracks and ensure faster and comfortable travel.

The plan, stuck in railways inter-departmental rivalry, got a push after a presentation was made before Gowda.

The railways would be able to cut travel time by three hours and 35 minutes on a 1,440km route — New Delhi-Howrah segment — by using the new technology as this would increase the average speed from 85 kmph to 105 kmph. In other words, these trains would help save travel time by 17.5 per cent as they have higher acceleration and deceleration which would increase average train speed.

The cut in journey time was calculated at maximum permissible speed of 130kmph and it could be further reduced if the permissible limit is raised to 160kmph.

As of now, the trains in the inter-city segment are hauled by locomotives. Trains currently used in elite Rajdhani and Shatabdi Express can go up to 150kmph, but the average speed continues to be 85-90kmph as there are several speed restrictions.

These trains would save 30% energy while passenger carrying capacity will be enhance by 25-30 per cent.

The cost of imported train sets is Rs 8-9 crore per car which means a train with 21 cars would cost Rs 150-175 crore.

At present, a Rajdhani with 17 passenger coaches, two power cars and two pantry cars costs Rs 75 crore. An official claimed that the incremental money (around Rs 90-100 crore) spent on trains can be recovered in under five years.